Netcompany Snippets #2

Netcompany Snippets cover what we believe to be the most important, interesting, and inspiring stories in the world of tech, with a special focus on Europe. Enjoy and remember to subscribe.

Should companies have a license to train AIs??

It is not often businesses call for regulation of their own product. However, that’s exactly what OpenAI CEO Sam Altman did when he recently testified to Congress. Amongst the topics discussed were: Should companies have a license to train AIs? Should models be open or closed source? Nowhere is regulation more tip-of-the-tongue than in Europe. Sam visited four European countries in one day to discuss the regulation of the technology, determined not to leave the continent despite regulative pushbacks.??

Does new tech increase inequality?

A new book titled Power and Progress: our thousand-year struggle over technology and prosperity by economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson argues that new technologies often result in greater inequality. Their case is historical. Will history, looking back at AI technology, see the same pattern repeat? According to one famous labour economist, David Autor, not necessarily. Instead, AI could help rebuild the middle class.?

EU invests in cybersecurity.

A few days ago, the company Capita, which handles data for over 90 organisations, was hacked. On the other hand, companies can now submit proposals to the EU for security solutions to society’s pressing cyber-security problem, worth €107 million in total. The plan is to secure collaboration among member states and help implement the proposed EU Cyber Solidarity Act and EU Cyber Resilience Act.

Increased pressure to conclude EU-US data sharing deal

On the 22nd of May, the largest GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) fine ever was issued. The €1.2 billion fine was issued to Meta, who was ordered to suspend Facebook’s EU data flows due to violating the law of data transfers to so-called third countries – in this case, the US. This story increases pressure on the US to conclude a data protection/sharing deal with the EU.

Will China rule the world?

"China’s quest for global leadership is a numbers game", Michael Cunningham writes in Discourse Magazine. He argues that the US must engage more deeply with the developing world to counter this trend. While tensions between US and China continue to rise, what about Europe? In The New Statesman, geopolitical analyst Bruno Ma??es argues: “The European Union and China are edging ever-closer to a trade war”. At the crux of it all, of course, is access to technology, and tensions are likely to continue.

AI does not care about facts. It just samples reality bites – and goes to the cinema.

Right now, companies must decide what to do with AI. What companies can do with AI depends on whether AI knows about facts. The short answer is it doesn’t. However, it is now possible to locate and edit factual associations in GPT models, hinting at how shortcomings of tech are only shortcomings until we produce solutions. In fiction, facts matter less. ?On Twitter, Justine Bateman explores how, in the future, it’s likely that you can order your very own personalized film for a Friday night. Or, indeed, any alternative fact.

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